Tensions
by Withered Pages
Summary: Naruto bounced back up, careless to his developing concussion. "What? A princess? We're guarding a princess!" "No, dobe, just a noblewoman. Probably fat and old like the daimyo's wife, too." Team 7 gets hopelessly tangled up in court politics on their 2nd ever C-Rank.
1. The Commission

**Tensions**

**Chapter 1: The Commission**

* * *

Kakashi herded the team out to brief them on the mission.

"Now, I understand that after a while, your genin feel inclined to… rough house," the old lady had said, looking down at the field records of Team 7. "That, of course, will not be acceptable on this mission."

Kakashi hadn't stiffened at the tone, nor had he shown any other outward reaction to the woman, but he had then allowed himself to think that she was an old hag with unfortunate proportions and out-of fashion court robes that smelled like they had been stuck in a forensics lab for a month. Or maybe that was just her.

He'd met with the client and the Third in a separate room from the genin to discuss the possibility of taking them on what would be their second C-Rank mission. Any other situation and the mission would never have been offered to the genin team, but most other teams were already booked, and the others did not fit the requirements of this fussy client: at least one famous ninja, clearly indicating that this client was a noble, if he couldn't already tell from the behavior of the requestor. They were paying B-rank to get an A-rank ninja or higher on a C-rank mission, good conditions for him, but if he was going to be honest, neither Naruto nor Sasuke were up to the kowtowing this mission would demand.

The tone ended up sealing the deal for the sensei. His genin might suffer for it, but it would be worth it if they got Kimuhara-san good as they went around, what'd she say again, _rough housing. _It'd be a learning experience for both ends, and good entertainment straight through.

Kakashi settled on the railing of the roof. The genin sat where they had during their introductions all those months before. Naruto clamored as usual.

"Hey sensei, you're killing us right now, what's all the secrecy for? D'we have a mission or no?"

_The secrecy was so you didn't lose us the client before I decided if we'd take it or not, Naruto. _"Well, you're going to like this at least, Naruto."

They all perked up at that, though Sasuke looked a little wary of whatever it was that Naruto was going to like.

Kakashi snapped the mission scroll open for them to see and eye-smiled at them over the top of the parchment.

"We're on for our second C-rank!"

The cries of excitement he'd expected never came.

Almost instantaneously, Sasuke's wariness jumped exponentially and Naruto's face froze, clear blue eyes wavering.

"Maa, what's wrong?" he lowered the scroll, single eye flicking through their faces.

Sakura was the one to voice their thoughts, chakra pulsing a little quicker, a little tighter.

"Sensei…. another C-rank?"

Ahh…. "Is this about the Wave mission?"

Yes, he had noticed that Naruto had stopped begging for harder, more dangerous missions since the outcome of the first had ended with Sasuke almost dead and his sensei's fist through a 14-year old's chest.

"Hahah, what? Sensei, you joke too much," Naruto grinned the fake grin he wore during his worst lies. He'd have to fix that somehow. "You really don't think we could handle…" Naruto petered off as he saw Kakashi wasn't taking it.

Kakashi slid off the railing to approach them and crouch down. "You do know that the Wave mission developed to become a B-rank, then an A-rank, right?"

They looked down. Sakura nodded minutely. He sighed.

"We will not end up changing the course of a country's economy on every C-rank we do." _I hope not, anyway. _The three genin looked unconvinced.

"There should not have been genin there at all. I should have turned the team around when we first knew ninja were after Tazuna, and especially not have stuck around after we knew Zabuza was on his trail. _That is not what a C-rank looks like._" Kakashi looked at Naruto's downturned face. He was biting a lip that was threatening to tremble.

"You should not have been participants in a true ninja fight at this stage in your training. Not in these times." The days of genin having to go out and kill were over. "You did well, you all did well, and the three of you grew because of it. Do not fear the missions to come because of missions that were."

"It's not that, Sensei!" Naruto had given up on the trembling lip. "It's just, I don't want to see another Haku die." He wiped at his nose, then shouted angrily, "I'd never be afraid for myself! Maybe Sasuke-teme if he keeps trying to die on me."

"Hn. I wasn't afraid of this C-rank."

The atmosphere dissipated. Kakashi raised the scroll again.

"This time, I checked with the client thoroughly."

"If it's another drunk man, I'm not going," shot Sasuke.

"Teme, you _are_ afraid! I'd go! Sensei, let's leave Sasuke-pussycat behind!"

"There won't be any need for any such drastic measures on anyone's part, although I will of course keep your preferences in highest priority when choosing missions, because our client-"

"All right! Get us a ramen mission next, Kaka-sensei!" Naruto said brightly, the worries of a moment ago thrown to the wind.

Kakashi simply looked to Sakura to inflict the punishment for being a bonehead. "Idiot, he was being sarcastic!"

"Thank you, Sakura-chan. As I was saying, we will be escorting Lady Hinogawa from Takihishi Village to the capital."

Naruto bounced back up, careless to his developing concussion. "What? A princess? We're guarding a princess!"

"No, dobe, just a noblewoman. Probably fat and old like the daimyo's wife, too." Sasuke said, dodging a flailing, highlighter-orange clad arm.

Sakura, who'd been looking just as cheerful as Naruto, deflated a little at the thought.

"Well, regardless, it isn't something to be overly cheerful about. I don't mind how you three behave-" especially not when that hag is around, thought Kakashi. "-anywhere but in front of Lady Hinogawa. We might lose the contract for the return trip, and nobility have a nasty habit of spreading news about shinobi teams they don't like." The three nodded in unison. "So no commenting on any extra chins, and if she asks for a favor, if within bounds, do as she says. If you're not sure where the bounds are, then-"

"Talk to you, yadda yadda, yeah, yeah, okay, can we go now?"

A look to Sakura and she hits Naruto. He loves that girl. "We're being briefed!"

"Try to be professional for once, dobe."

Kakashi continued. "At most a 5 day trip from Takihishi to the capital, and two days trip back from the capital. So pack accordingly. A note, when traveling with nobles, they will feed you, so you don't need to pack rations for the 5 days with her entourage. But a couple extra hydration pills are always a good idea, especially if the client turns out to be a big drinker."

He knew Sakura was getting all this in her freakishly eidetic memory, so he didn't bother to check if the others were paying attention.

"Possible adversaries: Most likely highwaymen. The Hinogawas are powerful enough to keep ragtags at bay, but bigger bands like to target rich nobles. Possible attacks from political rivals, but we're only counting that because that's always a baseline possibility with nobles in court, not because of any specific fears on the client's part. Think Grade 5 security net: no need to follow her to the bathroom, but sentry duty and chakra scans. You know the procedures." Sakura nodded eagerly, Naruto simply looked at him glassy-eyed.

"We meet at the front entrance at 4 am." He ignored their dismayed cries.

"Scatter!"

They went.

A fond smile tweaked at his masked lips. As sorry as he was about the incidents on the Wave mission, they were cute agonizing over what had happened. It filled him with a bittersweet feeling, hoping they would continue to respond like that with each death they caused, and at the same time knowing it was his duty to wean them of those feelings so that they didn't go mad. He shunshined off.

* * *

Even the vigorously punctual Sakura showed at 4:19. Sasuke came with Naruto in tow nearly an hour later. By then, Sakura was sleeping against the watch post with her mouth gaping open. Izumo and Kotetsu watched amusedly, laying bets on when the thin film of spit over her mouth was going to pop.

Sasuke personally figured in the next three breaths, but was disappointed when a carriage skidded to a halt in front of the watch post in the middle of the second breath. The squeal of protesting axles as well as the incredible gust of wind following the trail of the carriage woke Sakura, who rolled up immediately but still caught a lungful of dust.

A cheerful bellow came from where the horses should have been.

"Kotetsu, Izumo! Team Gai with Mr. Okagami the fabric merchant!"

"Wha-?" asked Naruto, still half asleep. "What's going on?"

They saw a black bowl-cut poke out from where it was hidden behind the bulk of the carriage, along with a blinding smile. "My Eternal Rival's youthful students!"

They walked around to where they could see that the bowl-cut ninja was harnessed to the front of the coach. Three genin they hadn't seen before sat in the driver's seat, though none of them, mercifully, were carrying reins or whips. One seemed to be dealing with two horses tied to the top of the carriage for some reason.

"Do you know us?" asked Sasuke warily. The spandex-clad man immediately struck a pose, muscles swelling to strain against the straps holding him to the carriage. The thin man visible through the window looked wild eyed. "No! Don't-"

"I AM-"

"-a bad influence," said Kakashi, dropping from the trees behind his genin. He grabbed the three by the back of their packs hurriedly and disappeared. Gai visibly deflated.

"Gai-sensei? Was that Kakashi-sensei just now?" Tenten asked.

Gai retightened his straps in a way that would have been described as sniffy on a less Youthful man. "My rival has yet again proved too hip and cool for me. But never fear, my blossoming Tenten! My Flames of Youth shall win him over yet!"

"Yosh, Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!"

"Gai-sensei!"

"Can we go now?" asked a small voice from the carriage.

Gai reared majestically. "Let us set forth!"

Neji lurched backwards as Gai accelerated down the street, pulled off balance by the speed and the terrified yanking of the horses Gai had put out of a job.

* * *

**Note: Hi, Withered Pages here. **

**I have a soft spot for Gai. He reminds me of my younger sister. Which I probably shouldn't have said on public channels. **

**Well, let me just go arrange my funeral now. **

**For those of you just about to click away, the second chapter is lonely and could use some company. Just saying. There's a lot more action in it, though we're still in the midst of the introduction. **

**Thank you for reading this far!**

**End of chapter question: Gai pulling the carriage is faster than the two horses, yes or no?**

**~Withered Pages~**


	2. It's a long way to Takihishi

**Careful, there's a shower scene in this one.**

* * *

**Chapter 2: It's a long way to Takihishi Village**

The yank from the shunshin made the tired genin stumble on landing, though Kakashi's strong hold on them kept them standing. Naruto had barely been awake for the whole thing, and when he found himself able to lean on something, he took the chance to fall asleep. Kakashi looked on with some consternation as Naruto slackened in his backpack, the straps acting as a harness that kept Naruto in a precarious front-lean that Kakashi held up.

With no other alternative, really, if Naruto could fall asleep after an encounter with Gai, he needed some sleep, Kakashi scooped Naruto up on to his shoulder, and nodded to the other two to follow behind. "We meet the client at 9 in the main square of Takihishi Village, so let's make some time."

As he leapt up to the treeline, Kakashi felt Naruto hands slide in his sleep to hold on to the handle on the back of his pack trustingly, like a child would to a stuffed animal. _Well, Naruto's still such a young child._ Once the other two joined him in the trees, they set off.

They stopped for breakfast at 7, which came wholly as a surprise for the genin, who'd been expecting a grueling 4 hour run to Takihishi. They settled under a wide-canopied tree, and Naruto was set down on a large root.

"Sensei, won't we be late?" Sakura ventured.

"That is entirely possible,yes," Kakashi said, handing her a neatly unwrapped ration bar. Sasuke's eyes flicked down to the bar Kakashi-sensei had tossed him, sitting in his grasp with shiny, untouched packaging. The jounin had already turned away.

He kicked Naruto awake.

"Dobe. Eat." He dropped the ration bar on Naruto's bewildered face.

"Wha-? Teme!" Naruto fumbled with the bar for a second, then stuck it all in his mouth. Sasuke went to get another one.

Kakashi simply tossed him one casually.

"Kwakwa-sensph! Wherph are we?" mumbled Naruto through the calorie-rich crumbs.

"Halfway to Takihishi Village, and I think we can slow the pace down a little bit."

Sakura looked concerned. "But sensei, we don't hav-"

"Would you like to go faster, Sakura-chan?" Kakashi asked, eye-smiling.

Sakura didn't say anything, a mulish expression on her face. Kakashi inspected her and shrugged. "Okay, we'll do 20% faster than what we did coming here, as soon as Sasuke finishes his ration bar."

Sasuke scowled, then ripped open his ration bar. Kakashi flipped open Icha Icha and leaned back against a nest of roots by the base of the tree to the sound of Sasuke wolfing down his bar and Naruto trying to beg a little off of him.

"C'mon, you're not going to eat all that, are you?"

"Leave Sasuke-kun alone, Naruto! He's trying to eat!"

"Awww, but Sakura-chan, I'm hungry~!"

Sakura glanced at Kakashi then showed Naruto the half of a ration bar that she'd saved, hiding the motion from the view of the jounin. He had his view hidden by the book, but you never knew. Naruto's eyes lit up. He mouthed "Me?" and Sakura vigorously nodded.

She took the leftovers out of the wrapper, careful not to rustle it, though it'd be more than covered by the sound of Sasuke choking on the dry bar, and was about to hand it to Naruto when-

"Sakura-chan, you can put that in your mouth now." Shit. And she would have gotten away with it too, if it weren't for that darn omniscient jounin.

"Awww, but sensei, she doesn't want it!"

"Naruto, will you deprive a teammate of nutrition?" Naruto drooped.

"Kakashi-sensei, I already ate breakfast.."

Kakashi slid to read the book on his back.

"Kakashi-sens-"

"Sensei, I'm done." Kakashi flipped another page.

"That's nice, Sasuke. Change of plans. We go when Sakura-chan is finished."

Sakura looked sick at the thought of eating the rest of the bar. She looked down and took a small bite.

"What is it, Sakura-chan? Do you not like the way it tastes?" Naruto quirked a head to the side. "Wait here, I have chocolate syrup in my pack!"

Kakashi almost dropped his book on his face in astonishment at the same time that Sakura yelled, "No! No, I'll just eat it!"

"Now, now, Naruto, let's leave Sakura to eat her bar in peace. Meanwhile, why don't we...organize… your pack?"

Naruto had weighed a suspicious amount when he'd carried him, and Kakashi now realized what the culprit was.

Four packs of ramen, three canteens filled with milk, a tea kettle of all things, filled with what looked like an odyssey's worth of socks, a blanket covered with baby pugs(which he rather approved of)and what looked like 1400 yards of several different types of ninja wire, not to mention the chocolate syrup. All this on top of the normal gear that ninja packed for an escort mission made for a Naruto that would be lucky not to fall backward standing on a tree branch.

Kakashi picked up a bundle of wire. It was the nearly translucent kind that could cut a person running into it at speed into ribbons. There were 500 feet of it. "Naruto, wha-SAKURA!" he roared.

Sakura flinched. Sasuke, who'd been looking on the packing proceedings with interest, turned his head to look, confused. None of them had ever heard their teacher use a voice anything like that before.

Kakashi dropped the wire and stood. "Sasuke, help Naruto pack, _properly_, and explain why it is not acceptable to bring ramen on a mission. I will go explain to Sakura why it is not acceptable to spit out food."

Sasuke's head snapped around to look at her, mildly disturbed. Sakura's face flared up at the look from her crush. She looked to Kakashi, pleading. "Ka-Kakashi sensei, it's not -"

Kakashi walked past her. Sakura followed, not meeting Sasuke's gaze.

Naruto looked up at Sasuke from where he was sitting plopped on the ground. "What's that about? Why's Kakashi sensei so upset?"

"I dunno, dobe, don't ask me." He paused and thought. "And don't ask them when they get back either."

"Geez, I know that much, teme."

Sasuke turned to the job at hand. "Hn. You suck at this."

"I don't see how you're doing any better than me!"

"Not that, dobe, packing."

"Oh, well, this is our first long term mission out of the village! How'm I supposed to know what to pack?"

"Tch."

* * *

It was a rather subdued Team 7 that came through the gates of Takihishi at 8:30. Kakashi had not been forgiving in setting the pace after whatever conversation he'd had with Sakura, though the murderous aura that had surrounded him initially had dissipated after the talk. Sakura seemed to have been on the brink of tears when they'd set out from the break, but the salt water pouring down her face now was sweat. The boys were just as sweat-soaked, Naruto sulking slightly about the ramen Sasuke had mercilessly crushed beneath his heel in spite of the tense situation. Kakashi simply registered with the gatekeepers with a fed-up expression on a face half hidden by Icha Icha.

"Yes, no, yes, this is Icha Icha, don't stare too hard or you'll wear it out, no, clearly, and please." Four sets of travel papers slapped on to the stand, though there had been no perceptible movement. "Thank you." The civilian gatekeepers-this wasn't a ninja village after all-seemed unaware of the nature of the thin tension in the air around the team, but were more than perceptive enough to see that the one-eyed ninja was in no mood for bureaucracy. Takamaru rushed to write down the replies on the form of questions that they hadn't asked yet. Kisemaru's hands shook as he stamped the papers as quickly as possible.

"T-Thank you, shinobi-san…" Silence. The eye looked down on them apathetically, the only thing visible in a masked face sillhouetted against the sun. "Y-Y-You can be on your way now!"

"Ah." The weight in the atmosphere shifted off of them as the ninja turned.

The team moved on, the pink haired one shooting the duo an almost apologetic look as she passed.

"Holy-what was that?!"Kisemaru slapped a hand around Takamaru's mouth.

"Shh, they can still hear you!" They sat in tense silence until the ninja team had passed from sight.

Takamaru fell limply back into his chair as Kisemaru released him. "Holy shit," he repeated to himself. "Crazy ninja." He looked to Kisemaru. "Did you see who they were?"

"I dunno, Konoha, I know that." Takamaru gave him a look. "Don't ask me! Geez man, I didn't want my neck wrung for paying too much attention to their personal information. Just got them stamped and gone."

Takamaru quirked his mouth to the side. "The big one was famous, I know that." Kisemaru grunted noncommittally, wiping his face with his hands. Takamaru poked him in the side. "Hey, we've been gatekeepers for a long time, right?"

"Hell yeah, I've been trying to get another job, it's not really helpful when the extent of your special skills is basically sitting for extended periods of time without getting buttcramp."

"But like, a looong time."

"Yeah, so what?"

"Have you ever seen him before?"

Kisemaru thought."No, and I'm sure as hell glad I haven't."

"Then how did he know all the questions?"

They both paused for a moment. Kisemaru frowned.

"He probably came around mostly at night or something, hell, maybe the papers are the same everywhere, how would we know, we never get out of here. Just shut the hell up already, I feel like he's going to come back and kill us."

"But-"

"-shut."

"Onii-chan~."

"What the hell, go away, you're gross."

* * *

There was a fountain in the middle of the town square, a beautiful piece with sculpted fish on a marble wave pouring water from their mouths into the basin of the fountain.

Sasuke thought it looked disgusting.

Naruto simply dove into the stream of water vomited by a particularly bulbous-eyed fish, shedding his pack as he went.

A sideways glance to Sakura revealed that she looked as if she wanted to do the same. The water did look good, unpleasant architecture aside. Especially in this heat, with the sweat plastering his forehead protector to his temples.

Kakashi didn't look up from the book, though he did move aside to avoid the water Naruto was splashing. "You all have 10 minutes." A glance up to the sun. "5 minutes, be completely dried and dressed by 9."

As amusing it would be to greet their client in the middle of a group shower, Sasuke was not predisposed towards providing anyone much entertainment. "Hai."

He slid out of his pack and shirt in a matter of a moment and out of his shoes in the next. He paused at his pants.

"S-sasuke kun!" Sakura turned bright red.

Perhaps not. He kept the pants on and joined Naruto.

"Sakura-chan, you'd best go in too." The -chan was back, Sasuke noted, though their sensei's tone was still cool.

"H-hai, sensei! Sorry, sensei!" Sakura jumped into the fountain.

"Maa, take your pack off, at least." Sakura flushed darker, and flung the half drenched bag on land, soon followed by her now dark red overshirt.

Sasuke found his feet pulled out from under him, and sat down hard in the shallow water. Naruto grinned at him, flashing a V.

Growling, Sasuke grabbed a fistful of the orange jumpsuit Naruto had not taken off, and dragged him down with him. With a yell, Naruto fell flailing onto Sasuke, pinning him into the water.

Kakashi turned away from the sounds of Sasuke drowning. _But by the sage wasn't Sakura a basketcase. _He knew she had some potential in her somewhere, but he simply did not have the nature or, dare he say it, the will to forge her into something better. Perhaps if just once, she'd shown greater commitment to improving her skills as a shinobi than to becoming a certain dark-eyed teen's romantic interest.

_We can't help what we were born to be,_ Kakashi mused, more resigned about the situation than angry now. _She'll get along fine as a high-chuunin. _

Kakashi leaned down to pick up Sasuke and Sakura's sweat-sodden clothing. Rinsing them briefly in the jet of water from a catfish stuck writhing in agony forever, he dried them with a quick Suiton jutsu. After a thought, he dried Sakura's drenched bag as well.

The genin were clambering out of the fountain, Naruto more clumsily than the other two due to the water-sodden jumpsuit. He yelled as droplets of water rose from his clothing to dance around Kakashi-sensei's body in ribbons before sinking to the ground. The same thing was happening to Sasuke and Sakura too.

"Sensei? What is this?" Sakura asked.

"I'm controlling where I take the water for the source of a Suiton jutsu." There was no sign of the client. Time for a little lesson. "Elemental jutsu take two forms, the first is when you convert your personal chakra into that particular element, and the second is when you use your chakra to control an instance of the element, like a puddle. This second one takes much less chakra in proportion to the amount of the element used in the jutsu. It's the difference in energy between a kage bunshin and a elemental bunshin."

Naruto's expression brightened at the mention of his signature technique, but as Kakashi went on, it turned back into a mulish pout.

"But since you didn't create the puddle out of your own chakra, you have less control over it. The better chakra control or elemental affinity you have, the more precisely you can use the second type of elemental jutsu."

Naruto scuffed a foot "So basically I suck 'cause I don't have chakra control."

Kakashi ran a hand through wiry locks. "I wouldn't say that, though better chakra control would let you do a lot more with the chakra you have."

"Hn." A grunt from the now fully-dressed Sasuke drew attention to the road adjoining the square. They could hear the client coming.

When the client turned the corner, Sakura cut off an excited squeal. Kakashi could see why.

The entourage of the client didn't just fill the square, it engulfed it. Ranks of green and ivory, the colors of the Hinogawa family spread like an opening fan from the mouth of the road, surrounding the boat-sized carriage that dominated the scene. Mules pulling wagons covered in the same colors trailed behind.

The entourage pulled up slowly to the fountain, and an elderly man with the same expression on his face as Kimuhara-san had in the mission room rode up from the midst of the ranks to stop directly in front of them. Kakashi absently wondered if all the Hinogawa attendants were taught that expression.

"Attend." The old man said boredly.

The genin looked confusedly to Kakashi, who only raised an eyebrow at the old man. The old man's eyes narrowed. "I see the manners of shinobi have not gotten any better in recent times."

"Shinobi do not bow to outside authorities, my lord."

"That is not what I have observed." The old man yanked at the reins of the horse, backing it up. "Enough money and you people will do anything."

"Commissioning shinobi to bow to you seems to me a bit of a waste, but will be a welcome break from D-ranks for our genin."

The old man ignored Naruto's sniggering. "I opposed hiring shinobi for this trip. It is only at the insistence of Lady Hinogawa that you are present. Keep that in mind before you speak out of turn." He turned the horse around completely. "You will be the personal guard of Lady Hinogawa for the duration of the trip. Do make an attempt not to disturb the actual goings-on of the company."

Kakashi shrugged and followed the man towards the main coach. The genin trailed behind, looking a little lost in the brilliant livery of the guards lining the way.

Except for Naruto, who grinned his fox grin and proceeded to enthusiastically stomp on the toes of the expressionless guards as he went.

"Ne, she's going to be pretty, right?"

"Think daimyo's wife, Naruto. Noblewomen aren't always pretty." Sakura said.

"Now, kids, no commenting on her looks. We're not hired for aesthetic judgments."

The old man seemed to be working rather hard to ignore all the comments from the shinobi. But was that the curl of a smirk Kakashi saw at the corner of that wrinkled mouth? He knocked at the door.

"Lady Hinogawa, the shinobi have arrived."

A feminine voice answered."Report for duty."

"Hatake Kakashi, captain of Team 7, reporting for duty with three subordinates, Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke, and Uzumaki Naruto."

"Believe it!" yelled Naruto.

There was a pause, as if the client was trying to decide whether that had actually been said.

"Open the door."

The door slid open slowly.

Heavily painted eyes locked on Kakashi immediately. He met the gaze steadily in spite of the sudden urge he had to cover Naruto and Sasuke's eyes.

_Not fat and old. Definitely not fat and old._

* * *

**Note: Hi, Withered Pages here. **

**Thank you so much to the people who followed and favorited, you made me smile. And double the word count on this chapter. I didn't know how to thank the reviewers. I had to triple read all of them, I just couldn't believe I had any. Thank you. **

**Questions, suggestions and any disagreements you may have with characterization and/or grammar are all welcome in either review or PM form. Especially any points you find disgruntling about characterization, I need and want some input on that.**

**Little late into the story, but heads up now, no one ends up together. **

**I personally ship all the permutations of the characters listed, but no definitive romance. Jealousy, yes. Catching multiple weapons in the chest for each other, yes. Flirting, only if you take the aforementioned to count as such. Which I, in my dark perverted fangirl heart, do. **

**Oh how fanfiction has ruined me. **

**End of chapter challenge: I have a clear favorite character. Can you tell who it is?**

**~Withered Pages~**


End file.
